AS I SIMULTANEOUSLY hadthe Course Offering Directory,Toolkit, RateMyProfessor.com and the Course Forum open on my Web browser and still struggled to find information about courses, I could not help but wonder if the course searching process could be improved. I surely am not alone in my frustration with the current resources available. In particular, the course offering directory would benefit from small enhancements that could substantially aid students' search for classes. Much of these efforts would entail making sometimes difficult-to-find information accessible with the click of a button.
As the lead editorial described last Friday ("Wikivaluations," Nov. 3), students often are forced to use frivolous methods such as RateMyProfessor.com in order to learn more about courses. Of course, word-of-mouth may work most effectively, but the University could take steps to help those without upperclassmen's advice. By giving students more information about what they are registering for, the University will both aid in student planning and alleviate the plethora of adds and drops during the first few days of class.
A simple way to evaluate courses months ahead of time is already available, though it may take some effort. Toolkit stores course information from the last 10 years, including course materials and syllabi. In particular, if a professor has taught a course before, the old syllabus will likely be highly indicative of the future course. However, Toolkit forces students to search by semester and year. Students might have to search several semesters to find a previous class section that their potential professor taught.
There would be two simple ways to remedy this first problem. Currently, the COD contains links to a Toolkit class page if it has already been created. For nearly all courses, it has either not been created or includes no relevant information at the time of registration. Instead or in addition, a link could be added on the COD for old course pages or syllabi if the course has been previously taught by the professor. Students would immediately know what topics are covered and what kind of workload to expect. Of course, there would be no guarantee given to the student that the professor would exactly repeat the previous course, but it would be hard to imagine a complete deviation.
Alternatively, the COD could include courses that the professor has taught within the last three years. Currently, clicking a professor's name only brings up basic information, such as department, e-mail address and office phone number. By adding courses the professor has instructed within only the last three years, it would ensure that a very old syllabus would not give a student the wrong impression of a course, but it would still allow students to look up an old syllabus on Toolkit quickly. Further, the student also learns a bit about the professor's background. An undergraduate student may appropriately be wary of a professor who specializes in exclusively graduate courses and may seek more information from friends or other professors.
Of these two suggestions, University Registrar Carol Stanley said the first would be most feasible. It would be difficult, she said, to include information about professors' courses since this data, though it exists, cannot be compiled easily. On the first suggestion, she stated, "Toolkit is completely outside our periphery, believe it or not." It seems, then, that a stronger link between the COD and Toolkit may be the key to improving course searching for students.
To further cure any COD confusion, the University Registrar's Office could include more information about registration restrictions for certain courses. For example, one restriction in the course offering directory states: "Restricted to: Third Year, Fourth Year, Econ, Intl Econ,
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